West Virginia State Police Plans to Carry Life-Saving Drug

West Virginia State Police says troopers will begin to carry a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. 

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports there’s no time frame for when troopers will start carrying naloxone.

Lawrence Messina, a spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety which oversees the state police, says the initiative is still in the “planning stages,” and didn’t discuss what progress has been made in the initiative.

Officials say West Virginia leads the nation in per capita drug overdose deaths. According to preliminary numbers, 628 deaths were reported last year.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the state Bureau for Public Health, says naloxone has been used 2,505 times by emergency medical responders through the middle of October.